Candida Crusher Diet – Breaking The Sugar Addiction

Eric Bakker NDJune 17, 2014

How To Break The Sugar Addiction

When you follow the Candida Crusher Diet, breaking the sugar addiction is very important indeed. You need to get rid of sugar out of you life once and for all, it could be the major sticking point and preventing your complete recovery!

If Obama wanted to make radical changes to America’s health long-term, all he has to do was treble the price of sugar. Jamie Oliver

If you want to break the sugar addiction, give yourself at least 3 months, because that is how long it can take for you to break away from this extremely addictive substance. Because sugars and refined carbohydrates are so addictive, the first few days of being off them can be quite difficult. There is no doubt; you will experience cravings and withdrawal symptoms. And after about 4 days the cycle will be broken, and you could try some sugar to get an idea of what it has been doing to your body. I can assure you, it isn’t pleasant experience.

To repair your body’s digestion to the point where it can tolerate small amounts of unprocessed sugars, it can take from 3 to 6 months. This allows you not only to wean off that sugar addiction, but it also gives your digestive system the time it needs to heal and to develop the health bacterial flora so important in keeping that overgrowth of candida yeast at bay.

One of the best ways to wean off sugar is by following a whole food plan just like I have outlined in the Candida Crusher Program. After your health starts to improve significantly, you can start testing small amounts of whole sugar foods like pure maple syrup, malt extract, and honey. If you notice the burping, bloating and gas production again, then reduce and stop these sugary foods and focus on the whole foods again. Once you begin to re-introduce these sweet foods into your diet, do it slowly and carefully. It is a good idea to remain on the probiotic during this stage as well, and this is one of the main reasons why the probiotic is the last dietary supplement for you to stop taking during the Candida Crusher Program.

Candida loves sweets, and if the yeast does not get fed on the most refined of carbohydrates (the simple sugars), honey or molasses will do. Yeast is not fussy, it will feed on the sugar you supply it in your diet, whether it be a refined sugar or a less refined sugar like the fructose in fruit which will be perfectly acceptable. The more severe your yeast infection, the higher the demand for these sugars will be, and the more pronounced the symptoms of bloating and gas will be as a consequence for most people. Sugar is also contained is most processed foods such as smoked luncheon meats, tomato sauce (ketchup), soup, etc. so reading labels carefully is very important. Reading labels can be tricky if you don’t know the many names of sugar and sweeteners. Here’s a partial list to help you.

Sugar Depresses The Immune System

The fact that sugar greatly depresses the immune system has been known for many years, mainly because of the work of Linus Pauling. Pauling is the only person ever to have received two unshared Nobel Prizes, one for Chemistry (1954) and for Peace (1962). He concluded that white blood cells need a high dose of vitamin C, and so he developed his theory that high doses of vitamin C were needed to combat the common cold, the flu and even cancer.

Did you know that vitamin C and sugar have similar chemical structures so that means they compete with one another for entry into the cells? If there is more sugar around, less vitamin C is allowed into the cell, and vice versa. It is interesting that taking vitamin C also helps curb sugar, alcohol and high carbohydrate cravings.

Since our bodies cannot make vitamin C on it’s own it must be obtained from foods or supplements on a daily basis. Try taking 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily if you have strong sugar cravings. You might be quite surprised to find that you no longer want that ice cream or cookie after your main meal.

A Few Of The Hundreds Of Bad Effects Sugar Has On Health

Sugar contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection

Sugar feeds yeast, and is candida’s favorite food.

Sugar upsets mineral relationships in the body

Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium

Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein

Sugar can change the structure of protein

Sugar can increase the body’s fluid retention

Sugar can cause hormonal imbalances

Sugar is an addictive substance and can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol

Sugar reduces oxygen to your cells

Sugar makes you sick and fat

Sugar Causes Insulin Resistance

Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas. It helps the body utilize blood glucose (blood sugar) by binding with receptors on cells like a key would fit into a lock. Once the key insulin has unlocked the door, the glucose can pass from the blood into the cell. Inside the cell, glucose is either used for energy or stored for future use in the form of glycogen in the liver or muscle cells.

The body’s cells become insulin resistant because they are trying to protect themselves from the toxic effects of high insulin that is required to regulate blood sugar levels when the diet is high in sugar and/or carbohydrates. This causes the cells to down-regulate their receptor activity and the numbers of their receptors so they don’t have to receive the noxious sweet stimuli all the time. It is like having constant loud disgusting music being played and you just have to turn down the volume or you will go insane! Insulin resistance leads to blood sugar problems like tiredness, hypoglycemia and diabetes, and to high blood pressure.

Sugar Makes You Sick And Fat And Here’s How

A less known fact is that insulin also stores magnesium. But if your cells become resistant to insulin you can’t store magnesium, so it is lost through urination.

Intracellular magnesium relaxes muscles. What happens when you can’t store magnesium because the cell is resistant? You lose magnesium and your blood vessels and muscles constrict. This causes blood pressure to increase and reduces energy since intracellular magnesium is required for all energy producing reactions that take place in the cell. But most importantly, magnesium is also necessary for the action of insulin and the manufacture of insulin. When your insulin is raised, you lose magnesium, and the cells become even more insulin resistant. It becomes a vicious cycle that begins even before you were born. This is another very good reason not to eat sugar and high carbohydrate foods.

If I Can’t Have Sugar, What Sweetener Can I Have?

Stevia and Xylitol are the only sweeteners allowed for candida patients, but they should then only be consumed in very small amounts and not during the first three to four weeks, because like all sugar (and artificial sweeteners) it will increase cravings for sugar and high carbohydrate foods.

I have found that Xylitol is the better option; it has the ability to inhibit streptococcus bacteria and has even been endorsed by the US Dental Association as being safe for children in terms of dental caries. Xylitol has proven anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties and is very heat stable. I use it in cooking and baking and it tastes great. It is important to remember – only small amounts of Xylitol, but do avoidXylitol in the first three to four weeks. As you progress through the various stages and improve, you can have small amounts of Xylitol and Stevia. Whenever I see a patient with severe candida issues, I prefer they abstain from ALL sweeteners for as long as it takes for them to:

A) – Break the sugar or sweet addiction cycle

B) – Learn to be able to go shopping without the need to buy a sweet treat

C) – Have balanced their digestive flora (no bloating, gas, etc.)

D) – No longer need sugar between meals (tea of coffee) or after meals (dessert)

Candida Crusher Contains Many Solutions

My book entitled Candida Crusher contains over 300 pages on diet and nutrition alone, more than any other book about recovery from a Candida yeast infection you will ever find. If you are serious about recovering from not only Candida, but also from tiredness, brain fog, itchy skin, and many ‘unexplained’ issues like a weight problem that seems to be ‘impossible’ to shift, read my book. This book has been an eye-opener form many thousands of people who already have a copy. By following the advice in Candida Crusher carefully and faithfully, most ALL patients will recover from their yeast infection.

Sweet Tip: Gymnema And Vitamin C For Sugar Cravings

Have you heard about an herb called gymnema sylvestre? This herb reduces the taste of sugar when it is placed in the mouth. From an extract of the leaves were isolated glycosides (an herbal chemical compound) known as gymnemic acids that exhibit quite a profound anti-sweet activity. This effect lasts up to about 2 hours after you place some of the liquid herb in your mouth, and you only need a tiny amount on your tongue. It is believed that gymnema may block sugar receptors on the tongue, so it perfect to carry a small bottle around with you if you have “killer” sweet attacks in the first month when following the Candida Crusher Program. Gymnema has no side effects, but it does taste somewhat bitter, but you soon get used to it. It does it kill any good bacteria or cause die-off; it just suppresses the sugar cravings.

Vitamin C is another good option if you have sweet cravings, and I recommend you take 1,000 milligrams in the morning and another 1,000 milligrams in the afternoon. Take before meals, and if you find that it only helps a little then increase your dosage to 1,000 milligrams three times daily. Vitamin C can be used in conjunction with gymnema. Just make sure your vitamin C powder does NOT contain any sucrose (sugar), because many do!

Naturopath Eric Bakker’s book Candida Crusher (718 pages) is the most comprehensive book on Candida yeast infections available currently. It contains everything you need to know to quickly and permanently eliminate your yeast infection. Click here to read more.

Disclaimer: The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Eric Bakker N.D., unless otherwise noted. Individual articles are based upon the opinions of the respective author, who retains copyright as marked. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Naturopath Eric Bakker, who encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.